


Circus of False Guidance

by InactiveReadore



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Dark, Gen, Humor, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 06:50:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7350352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InactiveReadore/pseuds/InactiveReadore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A “likely-non-canon AU spinoff short story” inspired by and based on RHJunior’s "The Great Alicorn Hunt" with his permission, in which the alicorn princesses Pinkie Pie and Luna end up investigating a rural and mysterious mountainous countryside…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Great Alicorn Hunt](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5445755) by [RHJunior](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RHJunior/pseuds/RHJunior). 



**Hello there! Yes, this is an A/N only chapter, but I think what I wanted to say before my “short AU spinoff story” wouldn’t quite fit in a description or “A/N box”.**

**For some time I have enjoyed many a fanfic from various fandoms on various sites. In particular I admire the author RHJunior for his ideas, writing style, and determined opinions/beliefs (whether or not one may always fully agree with them). Among my favorites is _The Great Alicorn Hunt_ , which is quite grand in the scale of various things it tackles.**

**One thing that struck at me was how RHJunior asked the author Deep Pond for permission to utilize his plot/characters from the short story _A Great and Powerful Heart_. This, combined with a “whacky” idea that I had in my head for months that I figured could be made to work into _Alicorn Hunt_ ’s setting inspired me to type this up. I have permission from RHJunior to post this as a non-canon AU spinoff based on his _Great Alicorn Hunt_. This is enough for me, and while it may have been presumptuous of me to type something up with the however-unlikely-possible-hope of getting this to be considered an official part of _Hunt_ like _A Great and Powerful Heart_ , nothing would have come of this at all had I not tried to do something. Besides, I had fun typing this up over the course of 3 weeks and hope that others and perhaps even RHJunior himself might someday enjoy it as well.**

**It’s safe to say that I’ve never actually done something like this before, and I now hold a newfound appreciation for what more professional authors must go through on a usual basis. Here are some things readers may want to keep in mind before reading:**

**-The setting is ambiguous enough that it may be considered to take place around any of the current or future arcs of _The Great Alicorn Hunt_ until otherwise directly contradicted. At the time of my writing this, a majority of the “Mane 6” (Twilight, Rarity, Applejack,  & Rainbow Dash) have gotten their own individual arcs and individual locations while Fluttershy & Pinkie Pie have not. **

**-Unlike Deep Pond’s _A Great and Powerful Heart_ that involved relatively minor canon character of Trixie that RHJunior incorporated into _The Great Alicorn Hunt_ utilizing the also relatively minor canon character of Sunset Shimmer, my work centers around the relatively-major characters of Pinkie Pie and Luna. I figured that they would be the most fitting choice out of the “Mane 6” to frame these events around, and I apologize if they seem OOC to either canon or RHJunior’s work.**

**-I have left this piece deliberately unfinished so that readers could imagine or even write out any ending they see fit. This wasn’t done so much out of laziness or lack of ideas as it was me not being sure how to end things in a manner that I, RHJunior, or other readers might find satisfactory and usable. I do have some ending ideas that one can look at in another post-story discussion A/N chapter describing “behind-the-scenes” facts among other things.**

**-I think my biggest issues grammatically are perhaps punctuation/capitalization for the lines pertaining to the speaker(s) of dialogue and my use of single and double quotation marks to indicate “air quote emphasis” of things in addition to their normal uses.**

**As for structuring issues, I feel like a good chunk of this might be “Mr. Exposition” style dialogue that I seemingly couldn’t help myself but to implement. Likewise, other than with Luna somewhat, I pretty much typed this knowing that I would probably end up exhibiting the trope of “Not Even Bothering with the [or any] Accent” other than the English language as I felt comfortable using it.**

**Again, this is probably due to how I haven’t really written fanfics before (though for the accents, this is also a matter of me either not knowing - or not being able to decide on - what accents various characters should possibly speak with, if any), and I hope readers can look past these things for the story first. **

**On a similar note, if you find yourself disliking any parts of this piece as you read through it, it might be worthwhile to finish reading through the rest this before one forms any final judgments or overall opinions.**

**Anyways, I think this preface has held you readers up for long enough. So without further ado, here is the mostly-complete “likely-non-canon AU spinoff short story” of RHJunior’s _The Great Alicorn Hunt_ that I spent the better part of 3 weeks crafting up. I hope you enjoy:**

**-Inactive Readore**


	2. Part 1 – Getting Places and Making Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exposition, arrival, exploration, and discoveries...

##  _Circus of False Guidance_

By Inactive Readore

(Inspired by & Based on RHJunior’s _The Great Alicorn Hunt_ )

 

 

### Part 1 – Getting Places and Making Discoveries

 

[ _Our story begins…_ ]

 

It was a bright and partly cloudy day in the rural hills of Pindoan countryside surrounding one side of the Pinduus Mountain Range. There were not many trees to be seen in this breezy landscape (only the occasional shrub) as these colder and drier highlands were marked with green grassland fields interspersed with white-grey rocks, boulders, and outcrops. These only increased in quantity as one approached the various cliffs and column formations that defiantly jutted out towards the Sun in the sky.

 

Oddly, the light level darkened as this shining body was temporarily blotted out by an unnaturally-large object traversing across the heavens above. What was this object you may ask? Why _surprisingly_ it was none other than a large royal airship belonging to two seemingly-dissimilar members of Equestria’s ruling class.

 

The darker-and-older of the two alicorn Princesses in question was currently admiring the aforementioned scenery below. Quietly to herself, she said “*sigh…* I hope the others are doing well in their efforts thus far…” when her musing was interrupted in a sudden yet not entirely unexpected manner.

 

“Luna! I think I know what we can do during our next stop!” came the ever-excited and energetic voice of the other, brighter-and-younger alicorn as she entered the observation room. Princess Luna was quick to respond.

 

“What troubles thee now, Pinkie Pie? Hast thou made yet another alteration to our planned schedule?”

 

The excited mare in question quickly answered, “Yep-yep indeed, Loony! It was back during our last stop that one of our servants came across this and just now showed it to me!”

 

Lo and behold presented before Princess Luna’s snout by a pair of pink hooves was a somewhat dated yet remarkably well-preserved poster describing ‘ _Funny Bone’s Travelling Entertainment Show_ ’ against a dark background. Next to the eye-catching white text in the lower right corner was presumably the namesake stallion. He was a red Earth Pony with a groomed green mane and wore a typical circus owner’s outfit, consisting of a black tailcoat resting over a white buttoned waistcoat and a black top hat between his ears. His forelimbs were raised upwards, gesturing towards the rest of the poster as his gray eyes looked towards the viewer.

 

Off to the left corner was another set of white text not as large as the show’s title but still quite noticeable. ‘ _Come and see the amazing zig-zag ascendance of the Gemini Brothers, Castor and Pollux!_ ’ At this, Luna shifted her gaze to the bottom center were there was what appeared to be a pair of crisscrossing travel streams that rose upward from the floor (one originating from a platform and the other from a circus cannon, curiously enough). The two streams met near the center of the poster with a pair of prideful ponies poised in mid-air, hoof-in-hoof, with their free forelimbs spread out from their sides in a boastful, flaunting manner.

 

One was a unicorn and the other was a pegasus, with each performer’s stream appearing to have originated from the platform and canon, respectively. They could have been related due to their shared light green coats and black manes. But what really stood out were the matching pair of black capes speckled with sparkling spots of glistening glitter, as if to shimmer and shine like a pair of shooting stars – much like the performers that wore them.

 

Unfortunately, the date that followed the Brothers’ names was one of the less-intact parts of the poster (though it wasn’t too old given its materials, make, and condition). Yet the last bit that was readable said ‘ _on the other side of the Pinduus Mountains_ ’.

 

“Thou wishes to seek out this show?” Luna supposed as Pinkie Pie rolled up the poster and stored it away ‘somewhere’.

 

“Uh huh!” the pink mare said after she finished doing so.

 

The other mare continued to test with her inquiry. “And how do thy believe this might assist us in our alicorn-hunting endeavors?”

 

“Well, it looks like a pretty big and fun show with awesome skilled performers that might attract a rather large audience, and anypony there could be an alicorn or nascent! If we ask around and present this poster at our next stop, we might be able to locate this travelling circus where we can cast our alicorn detection spell LIKE THIS!” yelled the excited pink mare as she proceeded to actually illuminate her horn and cast the detection spell as an exemplary follow through of her explanatory words.

 

Yet to both princess’ utter surprise, Pinkie’s horn shook and glowed much brighter than a mere demonstration between the two would normally entail. In fact, the reaction was so strong that a small shockwave cast both alicorns back down onto their flanks!

 

As she used her forearm to rub her eyes from her newfound sitting position, Luna dazedly asked, “What was- Was that a positive hit just now?!”

 

Pinkie Pie was equally confused. “I don’t know! It didn’t feel like you - or me - or anypony else on this ship, yet it was very weird – faint like it was far away, yet strong like there might have been more than one!”

 

“More than one?!” Luna confusedly yet excitedly blurted.

 

“I’m not sure,” Pinkie Pie answered, “It was almost like something ‘ _in-between_ ’ one or two hits if that’s even the right way to describe it – but whatever it was we gotta land and check it out right away!”

 

“I couldn’t agree more.” Said Luna as the princesses leapt to their feet and rushed to exit the observation room.

 

~ / ~

 

Within one of the ship’s navigation rooms, the two princesses had quickly gathered after informing the pilots to slow, circle back, and idle the vessel near the location of Pinkie’s accidental hit. The other alicorn who was better able to contain her anxious excitement addressed the present crew. “Where is the general area we are at right now?”

 

“We were currently passing over the Pindoan countryside and are now still near the Pinduus Range, your highness.” answered one of the non-Hosstrian-speaking crewmembers (or at least one that was quite skilled at covering up their accent) aboard the ship.

 

“Of course! I knew I recalled this region from somewhere,” the night princess remembered. “Rather rural and only populated by scattered herder Earth Ponies, but with wonderful views like the stone protrusions of Meteora. They always had an unusual way of naming ponies and things, yet I doubt too much has changed over the ages. So where would the nearest settlement be?”

 

The same crewmember glanced at regional map laid out on the table in the room. “Hmm… I’d say here at a village called ‘Edenbrayia’. Not many other options to choose from, m’lady.”

 

Luna understood. “Then that will have to do. We won’t want to arouse too much suspicion, so make sure to fly us in some distance outside of town and away from any of the fields. The cloud cover should also help. Have those ‘in-the-know’ at our previously-scheduled destination been made aware of our unexpected delay?”

 

The dutiful crewpony responded, “Yes, your highness. I’m sure we can think of something to keep them preoccupied while we investigate this ‘incident’.”

  
“Very well,” the Princess of the Night then added, “I also feel it best if it were just Princess Pinkie and I personally partaking in this particular investigation. If any trouble occurs, we can use our neck adornments to call for assistance.”

 

This prompted the less subtle princess to voice her concerns. “But Luna, why not bring them our party-ness? And how would we go about _not_ bringing it?

 

Luna slightly rolled her eyes and explained, “To answer thy latter and former questions, we are going to take a page from Twilight’s book-”

 

“But won’t she really hate that?” the Pink princess worriedly interjected.

 

“ _Metaphorically speaking_ ,” Luna continued, “and use our notice-me-not magic coupled with some other illusory masking tricks to get a more… ‘undercover’ view of things. There is probably good reason why an alicorn or nascent all the way out here might not be used to such… unusually flamboyant activity.”

 

Pinkie Pie and the others simply agreed. “Okie-dokey then.”

 

With that, the crew went off to prepare for the upcoming disembarkment. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile noticed where she had put the poster she had shown Luna. “Better bring this along, juuust in case,” said the giddy pony as she furled the sheet into her saddlebag and merrily skipped out of the room.

 

* * *

 

The town of Edenbrayia was almost that in name only, being somewhat larger and more developed than a village. Most of its buildings were single floor structures consisting of stones gathered from the surrounding highlands held together by clay mortar collected from permeating streams. Some of the “fancier” looking constructions attempted to cover up the stone brick façade with lime-based stucco, though this wasn’t as durable as cement-based alternatives often used elsewhere where available in Equestria. The rooftops varied in style between thatch and imbrex-tegula tiles made of terracotta, with the aforementioned “fancier” places seeming to afford and prefer the latter. Overall, it was very much “down-to-earth” like its humble, predominantly-Earth-Pony inhabitants.

 

The princesses were currently donning a somewhat atypical disguise. Rather than try to cover their wings and masquerade as unicorns as Twilight had done, Pinkie and Luna were posing as a pair of pegusi sisters (or “pegasisters” as Pinkie had affectionately dubbed it). They were even still wearing their royal crowns and neck pieces, though the former had been enchanted to hide their horns while the latter appeared as necklaces any jewelry-fond creature would wear. The illusion seemed to work on the others aboard the airship, so they figured why not try and get some public testing of the experimental technique done while they were investigating?

 

The local marketplace seemed to be the center of Edenbrayia’s economic activity, where local herders would sell their produce while purchasing local or imported goods. The latter were less common as the vendors would often have to venture towards the distant suppliers themselves given how few traders seemed willing to make the trip out to these parts. This lack of foreign visitors along with the simplistic interests of the locals explained the lack of any inns or other “specialized service businesses” for that matter. One minor exception was a small post office, where residents would go to receive or send what little mail passed around along with paying any and all taxes they had (which even out here, one could not quite get away from).

It was at the aforementioned marketplace hub where the disguised princesses found themselves heading.

 

Luna leaned over to Pinkie and quietly addressed her. “Now try to keep calm and silent while I find somepony to get information from. Think thee can manage that?”

 

The pink princess closed her eyes and happily nodded before she made a zipping animation with her hoof passing over her mouth.

 

“Good,” said Luna, “Now then.” She rose her voice (not to the Royal Canterlot Voice, mind you) and said “Excuse me, you there, could thou help us with something for a moment?” while gesturing towards a nearby earth pony stallion who didn’t seem to be too busy at this time.

 

The yellow, orange-maned stallion noticed himself being addressed and proceeded to make his way over to the glamoured duo. Once he came within speaking distance whereupon they could see his cutie mark (a wooly sheep grazing between two bundles of long grass as a clear sign of his herding profession), he spoke to them with a raised brow. “Hello there, yes, how can I help you two _lovely mares_ today?”

 

Luna hid the faintest of blushing smiles as she more noticeably rolled her eyes and began to describe her query. “Thank you for hearing us out. I’m Loony Moonpie and this is my sister Pinkie.” (They were lucky that word of the old and new Princess’ exact names and appearances – even if somewhat altered in this case – hadn’t quite reached these isolated parts yet.) “We’re passing through on our way across these mountains and thought we would rest here at Edenbrayia. But we would like to get to know more about this place from one of its residents.”

 

The likely-herder pony smiled “Ah, it’s no problem. I’m Ideyall Pastour, and I hope you two don’t mind me asking this, but if you both have wings, why don’t you just fly over the Mountains or take one of the more well-travelled roads through the lowlands?”

 

Luna was quick to respond with their planned cover story. “We thought we would give our wings a rest for a while and see things along the scenic and less-traveled route. That, and I don’t think these necklaces of ours would fare too well during such a flight.”

 

Ideyall understood. “Fair enough. We Pindoans are always grateful for new visitors. What can I help you with?”

 

Pinkie took this opportunity to jump in with one of the things that had been bugging her. “Ooh, have you seen or heard anything about a travelling circus like this?” she excitedly asked as she presented the Funny Bone poster near Ideyall’s face.

 

Before he could gaze upon anything more than the title and owner, Luna quickly acted to move Pinkie’s poster-presenting forearms out from the poor shepherd pony’s personal space before tensely telling her, “Pinkie, I’m not sure if that’s the most pertinent thing to ask about…”

 

Ideyall then spoke up himself. “It’s alright, and to answer her question I can’t say I have. I don’t think anything that large and fancy has been on this side of the Pinduus Range in decades. Sorry.”

 

“Aw, it’s no bother. At least you answered my question!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully dismissed.

 

Luna returned to the previous line of conversation. “Anyways, doest thou know of anything ‘fancy’, ‘unusual’, or ‘extravagant’ that _does_ occur on this side of the Pinduus Range?”

 

Ideyall, who either did not pay heed to Luna’s older accent or did not notice it due to the disguises, brightened up somewhat surprisingly at this. “Why of course! Not many know of it outside of our local community, but we have our very own Prophet!”

 

_This_ certainly caught the Princesses off guard. “I beg your pardon-”

 

“A Prophet?!” the more excitable one interrupted the former, “Like the fortuneteller ponies that give out future predictions?! I’ve always wanted to have my future read out to me. Say Loony maybe this will help us on our hunt for-”

 

Luna was quick to silence the overeager pony with a raised foreleg. “Calm thyself, Pinkie.” She turned back to their expositionary informant. “I’m afraid she can be very excitable at times. As thou were telling us about this ‘prophet’ of yours?…”

 

Ideyall began his fond recollection. “Yes, yes, he’s a rather unusual unicorn local of ours known as Faux Carnollo. Every month he hosts a special event where the local townsfolk and herders gather to present the ‘Father-Prophet’ with various questions and concerns. For a small service fee, he promises that he will return to his _isolated sanctuary_ for the month, where he says will attempt to ‘meditate’ on customers’ queries in hopes of receiving ‘answers’ in a _supernatural manner_. He then returns at next month’s gathering with any relevant information he has before accepting new offers to begin the process anew. If he doesn’t have any answers of significant value for certain customers, he’s nice enough to offer them a total a refund should they accept. It’s all quite amazing really.”

 

Understandably, Princess Luna was somewhat skeptical at all this. “And how doth thou know if thy are being cheated or not? Surely such a scheme is prone to be fraudulent at times.”

 

The kindly hospitable stallion just smiled and answered, “You would think that, and we thought so too, at least before his predictions actually started coming true! You see the thing is, a few years back when all this began, Carnollo was attending one of our local celebrations when he made a sarcastic bet to a group of us. He jokingly said to us that a shooting star would come crashing straight into the center of the festivities! We all simply laughed it off with him until lo and behold the very same thing suddenly occurred just hours later! No one was harmed thank Faust, but we were just as shocked as he was.”

 

Pausing for a moment, Ideyall continued. “Later on, Carnollo began to make more future bets with us as if he was experimenting to see if he was onto something. One thing after another he kept being proven right on. Some thought that he was secretly a creep that had been spyin’ on all of us, at least until he predicted things that he couldn’t have possibly had any prior knowledge of – like one of our young filly’s cutie marks! And it wasn’t just a lucky guess based off of her family’s marks either as it was different than any other we had ever seen around here before.”

 

Another pause. “After that, people began to take him more seriously. Especially when he came to town one day frantically warning us of an incoming storm! See the thing is, while we Pindoans might occasionally encounter the side effects of Pegusi weather activity in other parts of Equestria, rarely ever do any come around to directly regulate these parts. As such, the weather we have is quite natural yet unpredictable at times. Those who did not heed Carnollo’s warnings ended up being hurt the most by the system that ultimately struck us and passed through.”

 

Almost done, Ideyall finished up. “From then on, one thing led to another and soon the whole town gladly came to support their ‘future informant’ on both large scale and personal matters. Sometimes he predicts what the monthly weather or climate will be like, sometimes it’s to warn us about the onset of some plague or pestilence, and other times it concerns births, celebrations, and losses. It’s not like we’ve come to completely depend on him to determine each and every future action of our lives, but his opinions - when available - have come to be quite valued and appreciated.”

 

With his story finished, Pinkie Pie was amazed. “Wow this all sounds so incredible, you all must be so lucky! If only the rest of us could be so fortunate!”

 

Luna was similarly amazed but also curiously suspicious. “Yes, yes, indeed Pinkie Pie. So Ideyall, out of curiosity, has anyone ever asked or followed ‘Prophet Carnollo’ to see where he goes during his ‘sanctuary visits’?”

 

Ideyall gave a cross between a shrugging of his shoulders and a shaking of his head.  “Not that I can tell. Most of us are respective of each other’s privacy and are often probably too busy with our own daily lives to bother with such trivial things even if we wanted to. Doesn’t stop some ponies from sprouting theories and spreading them as gossip and rumor though.”

 

Luna could accept this. “Fair enough. But pray tell, if we wanted to see this ‘Prophet Carnollo’ for ourselves, could thou describe his appearance to us?”

 

Ideyall beamed up much like he had before. “Oh you can’t miss him when he’s around, always wearing that same outfit of his even if he isn’t actively prophesizing… Like when he visits the market or the post office around the same time as his monthly sessions – or maybe he is prophesizing during these times too and we just don’t know it!”

 

He laughed for a moment before resuming his speaking. “Nah, but in all seriousness just look for a brown unicorn with three ‘horns’ on his head, the other two being pair of ram-like horns adorning a strange headpiece that I’ve always assumed is some sort of family heirloom. Additionally, I don’t know if this is because he’s some sort of all-knowing wizard like Starswirl the Bearded, but he’s always had a smaller and thinner chin goatee of his own. Now what else… what else… Oh, yeah, and lastly he frequently dons this neatly-patterned cape of his… Perhaps it’s part of the whole ‘prophet-wizard motif’ as well? Either way, when combined with the rest of his look, you really can’t miss him.”

 

With this, Luna felt satisfied. “Hmm, that should be good enough and all we need to know for now. We thank thee for thy time and generous hospitality.”

 

Ideyall humbly smiled. “No problem. It’s always nice to share some of the more unique aspects of our little community with others from abroad. May you two mares enjoy your visit here in Edenbrayia and see you around!”

 

With that, Ideyall Pastour briskly and contently wandered off to his previous daily business as Luna turned to address her companion.

 

“Pinkie Pie, I think we both agree that this ‘Prophet’ may likely be connected to the potential alicorn that may be in this area. We should thus continue asking around to see what anypony else knows of him or has seen of him lately. Also, we can cover more ground if we split up to cover different parts of town. If either of us finds anything particularly useful, we can contact each other with our collar pieces.”

 

“Okie dokie, Loony!” The excited pink princess saluted.

 

Luna quickly realized something and scrunched her eyes shut for a stressful moment. “And please try thy best to refrain from spamming that poster in the faces of any other ponies thou comes across.”

 

Pinkie Pie ever so slightly deflated before her mood lightened back up once more. “Okay… but we’re still looking into that when we get back on the road, err, sky!”

 

Luna merely smiled with her eyes closed as she shook her head at Pinkie’s jubilant determination. “Yes, yes, may each of us be fortunate in our current and future efforts as the others have been thus far. Fare thee well Pinkie.”

 

“See ya Loony!” the energetic alicorn bid in turn as each princess went off in their own directions…

 

~ / ~

 

After a while of meandering around the market examining all the various ponies, stands, and products, Pinkie Pie was feeling somewhat disappointed. She had occasionally found a spot to seclude herself and cast the alicorn detection spell, but had received no reaction from any of those around her when she had done so. She was beginning to consider taking a break from her efforts to check up on Luna and hers when she happened to pick out something or rather _somepony_ quite peculiar among the nearby shoppers.

 

It was a brown male unicorn with a greying black mane and tail. Next to the loaded saddlebags he was carrying was a cutie mark consisting of an odd-looking herder’s staff with a bent hook. It was so crooked in fact that it looked like a numeral “7” and would probably be very uncomfortable to steer an animal with. His face looked to be getting on in years – almost like a “middle-aged” Discord – as the bags under his partially-sunken and crows-feet-lined eyes, jowls framing his neutral mouth, and narrow goat-like beard collectively indicated. Though what made him even more distinct was the “headpiece heirloom with ram-like horns” just as Ideyall had described for Carnollo.

 

Yet what stood out most on the suspected-Carnollo’s backside was the cape that the Princess now suddenly swore she had seen somewhere… Thinking on a whim, she carefully pulled out the poster she had been physically presenting in ponies’ faces (out of eagerness, the need to maintain she and Luna’s pegusi disguises, and perhaps also due to how the glow of a telekinesis spell at such close range might interfere with one’s eyesight – why the same did not occur with unicorns or alicorns when casting any spell that illuminated the horn just above their eyes she chalked it up to being an inherent attribute of theirs).

Anyways, one quick glance at the poster in question revealed a very much suspiciously-similarly-styled cape – if in better condition – being worn by the two highlighted star performers!

 

‘ _That must be Prophet Carnollo, but what does he have anything to do with Funny Bone’s show?! Was he a fan or former member of it? Did he know one perhaps? I have to check this out!_ ’

 

The ‘prophet’ in question appeared to have finished up with whatever he had come to the market to do and was now making his way towards the edge of town.

 

‘ _Is he going back to his “mysterious sanctuary”? I had better notify Luna of this…_ ’

 

Yet as she looked to find a somewhat secluded location to do this, she nearly lost sight of Carnollo as he slipped in and about the surrounding crowd and stands with surprising ease despite his distinct appearance and reputation. Thus, other thoughts came to her mind:

 

‘ _Wait, if I take too long I might lose track of him, and who knows how long before he’ll show up again? That, and I should only use my neck piece to call for assistance if it’s absolutely necessary. Besides, Luna’s probably busy in the middle of her own search efforts right now – and this also looks like the perfect time for me to be “incognito”… He-he!_ ’

 

~ / ~

 

Meanwhile, Luna on her part was currently busy conversing with a local shopkeeper mare.

 

“Thou say that Prophet Carnollo visits town outside of his usual shows?”

 

The mare smiled, “Why yes, he comes to the local market every week in fact. Mostly to buy produce and other groceries like anypony else. He’s a very polite customer and uses such eloquent choices of words... I’ve never really asked him about it, but I do find it odd how he seems to buy for more than a lone pony like him would need. Especially given how frequent his market visits are…”

 

“Thou doesn’t say…” Luna trailed off in thought. . .

 

~ / ~

 

Back with Pinkie, she had begun to discreetly trail the mysterious Carnollo out of town along a path leading away towards the distant countryside mountains…

 

While the surrounding highland scenery had been nice so far, other than the continual effort to trail the unicorn without losing him or getting herself spotted, things had been kind of uneventful so far.

 

As far as she could tell, enough time had passed such that the sun had moved a noticeable distance across the sky. For whatever reason, Prophet Carnollo wasn’t using his magic to teleport himself and save himself some time. Perhaps he was saving his energy and taking his time to enjoy the surrounding scenic views?

 

The path they had been taking seemed minimally-maintained as it veered away from any of the regular locals’ herding fields…

 

Growing somewhat bored with these surrounding observations, Pinkie Pie’s mind momentarily wandered. ‘ _I wonder if anything exciting has happening with Luna back in town?_ ’

 

~ / ~

 

[ _Speaking of which…_ ]

 

While her detection efforts had been unsuccessful thus far, Princess Luna had managed to find more snippets of information about the reclusive “Father-Prophet” Carnollo from various market ponies. Believing that she had gathered all that she could from there, she had decided to move onto checking out the local post office that the townsponies had mentioned. Yet this was easier said than done.

 

Apparently, just as the titled “Father-Prophet” Carnollo was an odd unicorn among the almost-completely Earth Pony Pindoan community, she and Pinkie weren’t the only pegusi to have been present in this small and isolated town despite what Ideyall Pastour’s earlier question might have previously implied.

 

For the local postal mare was a pegasus as well, a foreign pony who had volunteered to accept this position all the way out here for reasons unknown to Luna (though she did have some ideas).

 

Her name was “Scrapie Hooves” or something like that if she remembered what the market pony said right. As she could now see before her, the postal pegusi was known for exhibiting notably peculiar habits such as holding herself at awkward postures with the occasional bouts of minor twitching or nervous scratching.

 

‘ _Perhaps she has some sort of medical condition? Possibly aggravated from the local environment or the postage she commonly dealt with?_ ’ Luna pondered to herself.

 

Either way, both the mail mare herself as well as the surrounding townsfolk did not seem to think nothing much of it (even if the quirkiness of such a postal mare somewhat reminded her of another pony she could vaguely recall from someplace else… A distant relative, maybe?).

In fact, Luna found herself currently unable to speak with her at the moment due to the latter being out to lunch _and_ in the midst of an in-depth conversation. A conversation involved with another resident Earth Pony herder that Luna herself now knew to be quite the talkative yellow stallion…

 

‘ _Oh how_ _I pray that thine efforts are proceeding much more eventfully than mine Pinkie Pie…_ ’ thought the bemoaning night princess as it did not appear as though she would be going anywhere else for a while.

 

* * *

 

[ _Shifting to Pinkie Pie once more (and probably for a while)…_ ]

 

As they rounded an outcrop corner, the pink ‘incognito’ alicorn noticed that she and her target were coming up on what she Luna describing as the cliffs of Meteora.

 

The rock varied between gray and white with distinct horizontal striping along its many flat and curved surfaces. Large pillars stood at the forefront of even larger background cliffs that were permeated by steep drainage grooves. Between some of these gaps and crevices were spurs that the columns in the foreground likely formed from as the softer cliff rock behind them weathered away and retreated to expose new spurs in turn.

 

She could only assume that the reason why no one else seemed to come out here to view something as marvelous and majestic as this was due to how ponies could probably see similar formations at other, more visited parts of the Pinduus Range. Apparently his must also have applied to flying Pegusi as well, if Ideyall’s statement was to be believed. Those that did decide to soar over these parts for a “bird’s-eye view” may not have landed very often, or did so in other places among this vast landscape.

 

Returning her attention to the route before her, she observed an interesting sight. The path she and Carnollo had been taking split in two. The mainstay of the path headed towards what appeared to be the remains of a rockslide that had occurred hundreds of years ago and blocked any practical use by any being without wings. Instead, a smaller, much more recently worn trail veered off and up towards a small opening passage left behind by the rockfall. This was where Carnollo headed.

 

Comparing the condition of this trail with that of the blocked path, Pinkie Pie silently utilized her Earth Pony magic to get a feel for the latter. She could detect what may have been the remnants of an ancient paved road used decades if not centuries ago. The landslide probably explained why it was no longer travelled on or perhaps even known by anypony back in Edenbrayia outside of Carnollo, who was probably the only one giving it minimal maintenance for his sole personal use.

 

As Pinkie Pie made her way up towards the small opening, she noted how the passage was just wide enough for two ponies to pass through side-by-side. Certainly not large enough for the scale of traffic that could have once taken the once-unobstructed road.

 

~ / ~

 

On the other side was a small hidden valley, apparently unaccessed by the Pindoan herders due to a combination of its hidden entrance as well as the difficulty of transporting herds and supplies in and out. Given all the other surrounding mountains and likelihood for similar alcoves to exist, whatever existed here in this one would probably also be difficult to spot from the air, even if one was looking for something like it.

But what really stood out from her position at the hidden entrance was the complex that lay at the top of a winding set of carved-out switchback stairs, the base of which Carnollo now beginning to ascend.

 

Pinkie Pie quietly teleported herself to a nearby cliff face – hopefully outside of the ascending unicorn’s view – as she used her wings to stabilize her position while she secured her forearm onto a natural climbing hold. From this tedious vantage point, she now beheld the much-more-readily-visible mysterious-looming-site before her.

 

It was resting atop a small terrace, surrounded by cliffs to the left and right sides of its switchback entrance. Yet there was no telling how big the interior of the constructed complex actually was, as its visible outside portion appeared to lead up and into the base of the upward cliffside behind it.

 

The structure itself appeared to be some sort of combined “Temple-Monastery-Estate”, incorporating at least some of the “fancier” architectural elements she and Luna had witnessed back in Edenbrayia.

Namely this was the imbrex-tegula tiles that made up the rooftops, but utilizing marble instead of terracotta and on a larger scale. The walls, however, were rather different than those of the town. While still consisting of stacked blocks, like the roof they too were made of marble (for limestone would have been less durable and likely not flashy enough for the original owners’ spending abilities). Breaking up the vertical flatness were engaged marble columns at areas of support and marble ornamental pilasters framing a large central front door as well as two upper-story balconies to its left and right.

 

The place looked to be relatively ancient – centuries old in fact, despite it’s remarkable condition – and appeared to predate the aforementioned rockslide. Come to think of it, many of the large marble stones used to construct the compound may very well have been originally transported into the small valley through the larger, then-unobstructed pass. This route could also have been used to transport materials _out_ of the valley, but this was probably a less significant observation.

 

There was also a small walled courtyard between the main front door and a small gate arch over the top end of the winding steps. A bright reflection of sunlight flashing from a small point to the left side of this gate arch quickly caught her attention. Pinkie tried her best to look past the glare as she zoomed her eyes in on this spot.

From what she could tell, there was possibly some sort of plaque attached to one of the stones making up the stairwell-courtyard wall. Figuring that it would be an even better to know the possible name of this place before she called in with her findings, Pinkie decided to risk getting a closer look at once Carnollo had reached the top of the steps.

 

Upon the unicorn doing so and passing into the courtyard, Pinkie proceeded to follow through with her plan and silently teleported herself near the location of the probable inscription. Upon closer inspection, the metallic plaque appeared to have been only a few decades old, likely placed over a much older carving in the original stone (probably centuries old like its date of placement/carving and written in a language that few ponies could read nowadays).

 

In much more modern Equestrian, the newer replacement plaque read: “FAUX ANCESTRAL TEMPLE & SANCTUARY OF MOUNT BRAYNASSUUS”

‘ _Hurmm,_ ’ the pink alicorn princess thought, _‘this all doesn’t exactly_ look _like the lair of somepony up to no good. But then again, appearances can and have been deceiving before-_ ’

 

“STARSWIRL’S BEARD!” came Carnollo’s sudden surprising shout that disrupted the alicorn’s musings!

 

‘ _Oh no! Did he somehow spot me?!_ ’ was Pinkie’s flashed panicked thought as she returned her focus to the unicorn she had been, erm, “following”.

 

“I always hate that stepping stone!” complained the prophet as he nursed a stubbed foreleg. “Why can I of all beings never seem to see this coming?!”

 

The rest of his utterances were just grumbles to himself as he made his way up to the rest of the mysterious looming monastic estate. He then used his horn’s magic to unlock the front door, slipped his way inside, and quickly locked it again behind him.

 

‘ _Well, I think I’ve seen enough. Better report in to Luna._ ’ Pinkie thought as she reached to activate the communicator on her collar…

Yet just then, she felt something strange. A feeling of resonance with her Element… There was _Laughter_ nearby, or rather ‘giggling’… and it didn’t feel _malevolent_ but more so _mischievous_ or ‘ _schadenfreude_.’ Like somepony or some being reveling at the sight of a successful (though relatively harmless) prank or at least once more witnessing something that they had often seen and found amusing on a regular basis.

 

Wondering if the reason for this sudden acting up of her elemental abilities might also have something to do with the reason why she came here, Pinkie began to cast the alicorn detection spell as she had done back aboard the ship with Luna…

‘ _But wait… If the positive reaction was that strong way back aboard the ship and the possible alicorn is close here nearby, then won’t that mean-_ ”

 

But it was too late, for the spell finished casting and as she had just suspected the reaction was both positive and much stronger this time. Much like before, her horn glowed immensely bright as a shockwave thrust her out into the open courtyard!

 

‘ _Owie… well at least I know the alicorn or nascent is probably here nearby, but where- THERE!_ ” was her self-interrupted thought as she spotted a strange cloaked figure staring at her from the balcony to the top and right of the front doorway Carnollo had just entered moments ago.

 

She imagined whatever was in the plain, messy covering must have been just as if not more surprised and shocked than her before it came to its senses and turned to flee inside!

 

“Hey, wait!” she yelled as she quickly teleported herself up to the balcony and made her way inside the estate…

 

~ / ~

 

What she saw inside was a rather lavish and exquisite upper story hallway that was also almost entirely marble. Additionally there were a few marble Earth Pony statues positioned along the walls . . . and the cloaked figure rushing away from her down the corridor!

 

“WAIT!” she called out, causing the figure to leer what looked to be its cloaked head back towards her. Inadvertently, this also caused it to slip up on its own legs and cloak, sending it crashing to the floor with what sounded like a pair of masculine adolescent “oomphs!” as it (they?) slid a short distance down the polished floor.

 

“Damn it brother!” came a voice from the cloaked figure. “Why did you gave to look back at her while we were retreating?! Now look what you’ve done!”

 

“Don’t blame me! She distracted me and captured my curiosity!” came the reply of another, slightly higher male voice from the same figure. “Besides, at least we were lucky that she hasn’t yet seen-”

 

As if on some fated or twisted sense of cue, it was at that very moment that a gust of wind came rushing down the hallway from the balcony opening behind Pinkie. Yet this was by far much less of a concern to her as it was to the apparent brothers, as it managed to blow off the very cloak that had been concealing them!

 

It was safe to say that what the princess saw next was something unlike anything even she had ever seen or heard of outside of a chimera, manticore, Cerberus, Discord… (Okay, so maybe quite a few things actually but **_this_** was still quite shocking to anypony nonetheless!)

 

For there at far end of the hall, standing on four hoofed legs with a pair of wings, was what could be considered an “alicorn” in only the most basic definition of a “winged unicorn” that callously disregarded the contribution of Earth Ponies to the hybrid mix…

Yet even then, it is unlikely that anypony who ever used this definition would have it in mind to be immediately referring to what amounted to a “unicorn” AND a (former) pegasus _sharing the same body_!

 

For indeed, there standing on four hoofed legs with a lone pair of _unusually-flexible_ wings was a pony or _ponies_ with two separate colt heads! One seemed to be situated closer to where a pony’s raised head would normally be: topmost and roughly aligned with the majority of the spinal axis, if it did not slightly veer off towards the left if looking down from above. The “other” colt’s head was situated somewhat lower down and to the right (again, looking down from above), perhaps stemming from the space between the scapula and sternum. This didn’t necessarily mean that the two unusually-conjoined colts lacked the ribs that would normally go here, but trying to imagine their skeletal and other interior anatomy was even more of a difficult nightmare than their unsettling outward appearance.

 

…Also of note was how the upper right (if looking from the front) colt’s head had a _painfully_ broken stump of a horn, but seemed to be compensated by having larger control over the shared pair of wings. The lower and left (if looking from the front) colt’s head may not have had as much of this wing control access, but seemed to be compensated himself by having a relatively large and intact working horn (probably identical in size and shape to what the aforementioned upper head’s horn once looked like).

Both heads appeared to have roughly equal control over their shared pair of legs – or at least had learned to carry themselves such that it was difficult to tell who controlled what exactly – and were currently staring at the wide-eyed and slightly gaping alicorn princess with similar (if not much more **alarmed** ) expressions of their own.

 

But what _really_ got Pinkie Pie’s attention most of all aside from their rather detailed cutie mark (a glowing unicorn horn flanked by a miniature version of their flexing pegusi wings all wreathed by a connected set of dots that could be interpreted as a horseshoe, the Greek capital letter omega, or one form of the constellation  Gemini) were the light green coat and black manes that she recognized alongside Carnollo’s cloak.

“No way…” she began with a low and deeply unsettled voice, “I had my suspicions, but…

_Castor and Pollux_?!? **What on Equus happened to you two?!** ”

 

### ( _End Part 1…_ )


	3. Part 2 – Revelations and Getting Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exactly What It Says on the Tin...

**Part 2 – Revelations and Getting Answers**

 

[ _Continuing from where we left off…_ ]

 

The revealed brothers in question were both surprised and miffed by this **_alicorn_** ’s outburst. While the average pony might not ask such a thing about conjoined twins, the two concluded that this _intruder_ must have heard of them before and thus realized that they were once separate.

 

“DON’T call us that!” yelled the head with the damaged horn as the lower, intact-horned one continued. “We despise those stage names ‘Funny Bone’ gave us!” The contempt was easily carried in their voices as the shorter-horned colt began “I am Castaera,” the longer-horned one followed, “I’m Polly Flux,” and finally both voices yelled in angered unison, “And that’s all you need to know!”

 

Pinkie was startled but not swayed. “But why?” She sounded heartbroken as she was with these next words, “How did you two come to be in this, this state?”

 

With pained anguish, Castaera lashed out. “We don’t need to tell you or anyone else!”

 

Polly continued in a threatening manner, “Alicorn or not, we’ve trained to see to it that no one escapes with any of our family’s secrets intact, so you won’t either!” He then carried through with his threat by unleashing a magical blast from his horn.

 

Pinkie quickly cast up a magic shield (briefly noting that her disguise was either not effective or no longer active), deflecting the shot into one of the rather-narcissistic-looking, noble-garbed Earth Pony statues nearby – obliterating it!

 

“BUCK!” yelled Polly, “I hope Father doesn’t mind that!”

 

“Excuse me,” Pinkie said as to grab the Brothers’ attentions again. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but wasn’t Castaera the unicorn between you two?” At least that’s what she remembered from the poster compared to who each of the brothers’ voices had just announced themselves to be moments ago.

 

Castaera frowned. “You’d be right. _Originally_ , I _was_ the unicorn and Polly here _was_ the pegasus. Yet as he _acquired_ a horn much like mine used to be while I _took over_ his wings, we both became ‘lucky’ enough to ‘ _share and experience the abilities of each other’s race_ ’ much like yourself, – **_BUT IN A WAY NOPONY WOULD EVER WANT!_** ” the unicorn-turned-functionally-pegasus screamed as he slammed the brothers’ shared front hooves onto the floor.

Castaera’s suddenly-shouting voice then became just as suddenly calm as he un-grit his teeth and said “Now then, I think we ought to avoid damaging our home any further by taking this _somewhere else_!”

 

This raised voice seemed to act as a cue for Polly, who nodded and began to illuminate his horn once again.

 

Wary of another blast attack like before, Pinkie yet again raised a magic shield in preparation, only to see that the Brothers had suddenly vanished!

 

Just then, she felt a pair of forearms place themselves onto her sides. Before even an alicorn like her could react, she felt herself being pulled by the thrusting shift of a teleportation spell down the same hall she had been staring down. Yet it didn’t stop there as another shift followed, and another, and another…

 

~ / ~

 

Catching only the briefest of glances at the interior of the estate she had, erm, “ _infiltrated_ ”, this _rapid teleportation sequence_ finally dropped Pinkie off into a large antechamber that was simple yet appreciably ornate in its design.

 

For the most part, its shape was that of an oblate spheroid, and, given its impressive size, they were probably no longer in the outside visible portion of this compound. Rather, this was somewhere inside the mountain that the outer estate had been built up against, and could now in all likelihood be confirmed to lead into a carved out inner portion as she had previously suspected.

 

The makeup of the surfaces that this chamber was likely carved from were all uniform in color and consistency. Yet unlike the marble hallways she had seen before, this was not a building material that she could easily recall as having ever seen or heard of before.

 

Behind her was a hallway with an elliptical-arched ceiling leading to what she assumed was the other side of the locked front door through which she had seen Carnollo enter. Also in the middle of this corridor were the exits to two stairwells across from each other. She knew that the one on the left lead back to the upper hallways of her previous encounter due to the “unwilling tour” she had just been taken.

 

Lastly of note was how on the far side of the antechamber, opposite of the aforementioned front door corridor behind her, the ceiling tapered down to an entrance area for a completely different stairwell. Relative to the antechamber, this side area resembled a large alcove yet was smaller than an apse. The stairwell probably led even further inside the mountain, and was likely where Carnollo had gone should he have passed through this place.

 

But all these sequential split-second observations mattered little to the Princess once she was broken out them by the voice of the older of the two ‘Brothers’, who were currently hovering in the air between her and the antechamber’s far side and gazing down at her in a foreboding manner…

“Trying to call out for help will do you no good. Room to maneuver indoors wasn’t the only reason we decided to fight you in this chamber.”

 

Polly then explained, “It also happens to be lined with ancient _Siopi Stone_ that will absorb and shield against any magic of all kinds!”

 

“But I don’t want to fight or hurt you! Just hear me out!” Pinkie pleaded. She knew they might try to engage her anyways, but she was more concerned for their sake than hers and hoped she could still reach them with minimal further incident.

 

“Sorry,” Castaera said in a manner that was surprisingly sincere instead of mocking, “but even if you mean no harm, we simply cannot afford to let anyone outside of this place know of our existence!”

There was a pained desperation in his voice as he uttered this last phrase…

 

~ / ~

 

And so, a “fight” ensued, in which Pinkie Pie “fought” to hold her ground. She either dodged or defended against the teleport-spamming brothers’ volleys that seemed to come from all directions with a firmly maintained shield and an occasional stunner cast back (and frustratingly avoided) in turn.

 

Sure she could attempt to head somewhere else like outside, where she might be able to act on her own terms, or even call for assistance. But she did not know this place too well, nor how much effort getting outside might take, and figured the brothers might be much more comfortably predicable to deal with if she remained where they wanted her to be. Not to mention that it did not look like the Brothers’ attacks were faring very successfully against her defenses thus far, nor did it appear that they would be changing their tactics anytime soon.

 

So instead, while all this antechamber combat was occurring, the princess was having a “bazillion” thoughts running through her mind (and while this might seem typical of somepony like her, in this case the vast majority of these thoughts were being directed towards her current situation – both in the immediate vicinity and for the past several hours):

 

‘ _What are Castaera and Polly even doing here with Carnollo, and how did they get so perfectly fused?!_’ There were reported instances of ponies or other creatures being “tele-fragged” into a non-living object or even another living being, but in both cases the results were never “pretty”. Even if the exterior seemed properly sealed, the innards almost always _leaked_ or would no longer function properly. Death was either immediate or impended at an agonizing rate that almost warranted mercy-killing. . .

‘ _So how have they managed to survive such an event? Was it because they are nascents as well as brothers who underwent some sort of_ emergency partial ascension _to save their lives? Does this mean they might still need some sort of_ boost _to finish the process and hopefully leave them separated and healed once more?’ _

 

She then turned her attention and musings back to the room around her. ‘ _Was this_ “Siopi Stone” _not only shielding them from general magical detection but even magic as unique and advanced as Luna’s dream-walking? It might explain why I detected them outside, where they must have also been when I first detected them aboard the ship…_ ’

 

Just then, as she followed the Brothers’ movements, she noticed something rather peculiar. Although it might have seemed like they were firing everywhere from all directions, the stairwell entrance area on the far portion of the antechamber that she had noted before was currently being avoided for some reason…

Perhaps what she planned next wasn’t the wisest course of action, but then again she wouldn’t even be here in this temple-estate had it not been for her tendency to be both spontaneous and reckless.

 

She launched another stunner at the Brothers to get them to dodge once more, only this time hunching her legs as she built up energy in them as well as her wings. She hoped she would manage to time this right…

 

~ / ~

 

As Castaera and Polly finished teleporting and reorienting themselves from the alicorn’s latest futile attempt to hit them, they did _NOT_ expect to find said pony to have suddenly thrust, catapulted, and steered herself straight towards them!

 

Capturing feel of the moment, the princess yelled “SURPRISE!” just before their bodies collided and flew towards the aforementioned stairwell entrance area!

 

~ / ~

 

Pinkie conjured up one last shield for all three of them to cushion their impact as they crashed into the _strangely-designed entryway floor_ and slid apart…

 

Yet before either party could get up to continue and/or resolve the fight, the floor symbols Pinkie now recognized as _runic carvings_ glowed just as the ground shifted to rapidly ensnare both her and the Brothers!

 

The crystal-like stone did not so much as forcibly impact her as it did quickly wrapping itself around her form. All of her body barring her tail, wing tips, neck, and head was soon encased in the strange substance, and she could not move her legs or wings. To make matters worse, a rushing sensation of drainage left her unable to feel her magic anywhere, leaving her horn or other magical parts useless. Overall, she was completely immobilized from the neck down and powerless to do anything about it. The only plus side to this alarming situation was that the terrifying coverage seemed to be designed more so to constrain its victims than to constrict them, meaning that she was still able to breathe with relative ease.

 

Glancing nearby, she could see the same fate had befallen Castaera and Polly.

 

* * *

 

Polly was the first to collect himself. “Ughhh… I was always better at the ‘amazing wing-coordination and mid-air reorientation’ Cassy and – Oh Faust – alicorn you’ve done it now!”

 

Both brothers realized what she had done, with Castaera explaining. “It looks like neither of us three are going to be getting out of the _Crystal Siopi Rune Security Trap_ until Father finds us!”

 

Absorbing this information, Pinkie Pie simply asked, “Well, what do we do until then?”

 

 “. . .” With a stumped expression on his face, for once Castaera was caught not knowing what to say.

 

Polly sheepishly covered for him. “. . . I guess we could get your name, apologize for our ‘actions’, and actually answer your questions from before…”

 

While Pinkie Pie certainly had every right to be concerned about this current situation, there wasn’t too much she could probably do at the moment. That, and she figured that this would be as good of an opportunity as any to learn about the possible-alicorn Brothers especially now that they seem to have calmed down and come to their more rational senses.

“It’s Pinkie Pie, and that would be a nice start then, yes.”

 

Despite the apparent planning of his previous statement, Polly still found it somewhat difficult and awkward to come up with the right words to follow through with.

“Oh, okay then ‘Princess Pinkie Pie’. Alright. Umm… We’re sorry that we tried to, uh, ‘silence’ you and whatnot, your highness, and now that I look back on it, I dread to think what we would have done if we somehow actually managed to, uh, ‘ _succeed_ ’ in our thoughtless-murderous-intents?… heh, heh…” The younger brother more nervously sheepishly trailed off this time.

 

Castaera was quick to clear his throat and change the subject. “I concur with my brother’s ‘apology’, princess, though perhaps we should move on to telling you how Polly and I came to be so ‘close together’ in ‘this way’?”

 

Pinkie Pie firmly kept herself neutral and reserved despite the awkward apology and unusual self-puns. “If that’s what you both feel is best for each of you right now, then go ahead. Oh, and you can simply call me Pinkie if you want.”

 

Castaera nodded. “Very well. I don’t think this will take too long to explain, but just to be safe I’d rather not have any interruptions until the end, okay?”

 

Pinkie Pie nodded back in turn, hoping to try her best not to interject, yet for once she wasn’t willing to make any Pinkie Promises on it.

 

Castaera saw this, spoke “Good.”, and began to recount their tale.

“Well then, it was several years ago. . .”

 

* * *

 

“. . .My little fraternal twin brother-”

 

“Little by only an hour!” Polly rudely jumped in. (He had once joked to himself that he wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that his older brother had managed to use his original birth talent to teleport out of their mother’s womb as to explain why he came out to be born first…)

Unaware of his sibling’s ridiculous internal musings, Castaera simply glared at him for his interruption before resuming, “Yes, my ‘little-by-only-an-hour’ brother and I always enjoyed performing stunts back when we were with our parents, much to their frantic irritation and worry.”

 

Polly followed up. “But what really captivated us were our family’s visits to local entertainment shows.”

 

Castaera took his turn. “It was wonderful and thrilling experience each time, but nothing could top the moment when ‘ _Funny Bone’s Travelling Entertainment Show_ ’ came to town.”

 

Polly nostalgically jumped in. “And what a show it was, like nothing we had ever seen! It was truly one of the best times of our lives…”

 

Castaera solemnly continued, “…But sadly this period of wonder, awe, and ‘ _relatively_ -innocent carefree-carelessness’ of ours was not to last…”

 

Polly tried to explain.  “…It’s not like we grew to dislike, _despise_ , or _hate_ our mom and original dad or anything, far from it in fact. Yet we could not help but feel some manner of resentment for their earnest attempts to reign in our reckless tendencies.”

 

Castaera continued, “It was only when they told us that we would be moving ‘far away’ from ‘everything we had ever known and enjoyed’ that we were driven over the edge to panic.”

 

Polly bitterly followed forth. “It was in this irrational state of mind that we made one of the bigger mistakes in our lives.”

 

Castaera was also bitter yet additionally sarcastic when he whimsically spoke next. “I suppose the ‘cheapest’ way to phrase it would be something like ‘ _Run away from home to join the circus , they said, It will be ‘ **fun** ’, they said’_…”

 

 “…but yet that’s just what we did.” said Polly, who now appeared downcast and even visibly sniffled…

 

At this, Pinkie felt more of a personal heartache imagining if she had ever done the same.

 

Castaera also felt pity for Polly but continued the story nonetheless. “Somehow, we managed to track down Funny Bone and his show.”

 

 “We were surprised and elated to hear that he was actually willing to hear us out,” said a recovered Polly.

 

 “Even though we tried to avoid bringing it up during the conversation, the circus owner managed to deduce our runaway status on his own,” spoke Castaera.

 

 “Yet surprisingly enough, rather than rat us out, he asked us to demonstrate how we might ‘be of use’ to him…” Polly said in an uneasy voice.

 

“This should have been our first ‘red flag’, had we been more aware.” Castaera explained in self-chastising fashion.

 

Polly tried to comfort his sibling. “Brother…”

 

Getting a hold of himself, Castaera continued. “Right, right. So after a few displays we eventually came to an agreement and shook forehoofs, with Funny Bone saying that this would be ‘good business’ for the lot of us.” He said the last phrase with a sarcastic tone and a nasty look on his face.

 

He continued. “We, being the naïve and easily-swayed _foals_ we were, jumped in joy at this ‘apparent success’.” Castaera paused to close his eyes and shake his head before moving on. “And so we practiced performing different routines until we found something that stuck. We even earned our _original_ cutie marks in the process. Oddly, they were much the same as our current ‘combined’ mark.”

 

Gesturing to Polly, the younger sibling picked up on the cue and explained. “Both shared the connected arcing dots, with the differences being that Cassy’s had his horn and mine had my flexing wings.”

 

Castaera nodded. “Quite so. Moving on, when it came to ‘getting our act together’ so to speak, we started out small and slow, all while the circus travelled about the less-populated Equestrian countryside. Polly learned how to maneuver himself once fired from a circus cannon for ‘extra circus flare’, while I learned to teleport myself from a platform of the same tilted barrel height for ‘symmetry’s sake’.”

 

“I would like to add real quick that my lessons were way more complicated!” Polly interrupted yet again.

 

An annoyed Castaera yelled “Polly! Don’t change the subject!”

 

“Sorry,” the younger sibling sheepishly said.

 

Calming himself, Castaera continued.  “Anyways, after Funny Bone decided that we had had enough practice learning our stunts individually, we began to coordinate our acts together as one. Impressed with how well we were faring thus far, our boss informed us that we would premiere as the main attraction for his ‘biggest and greatest show yet’!”

 

Polly took over. “He even showed us the custom poster he had his ‘business associates’ design and produce just for the special occasion…” At this, Pinkie’s eyes widened but kept silent out of polite respect and figuring that the Brothers were interrupting themselves enough as it was.

 

Castaera resumed. “So all in all, we were amazed, proud, and eagerly anticipating the opening night. *sigh...* If only we could have seen the future like-”

 

“Cassy, Don’t change the subject!” Polly mockingly teased.

 

Shooting an annoyed glare at his brother, Castaera moved on, “And so the big evening finally arrived…”

 

~ / ~

 

A moment’s pause and Castaera’s recounting resumed. “It was a larger crowd than we had ever seen Funny Bone draw back in our old hometown.”

 

Polly took over. “We were out in the country, to avoid competition from city shows and light pollution as well as to give enough space on the ground and sky for the audience and ‘flashy fireworks’ that would be accompanying us.”

 

At this, Castaera picked up on the tale. “Yes, and now that I think back on it, Funny Bone was probably also hoping to avoid attracting the attention of too many ‘ _inspecting authorities_ ’, or at least arrange things such that he could ‘disappear’ should anything go ‘ _awry_ ’.”

 

“And wasn’t he right to do so…” Polly grumbled to himself.

 

Castaera eyed his brother briefly before he resumed speaking. “Once it was time for our act at last, Polly and I took our positions as the stars of the show…”

 

Polly then spoke with a foreboding tone. “While our memory and recollection of these events has been rather admittedly impressive thus far, what happened next is something that I doubt either of us will ever forget.”

 

Castaera recalled it in all too vivid detail. “I don’t know if it was the explosion from a nearby cannon setting off some of the nearby fireworks or some of the stage lights being suddenly shown in my eyes; but just as I was going to release my signature ‘ _Rapid-Multi-Mid-Air Alternating-Teleportation-Spell-Technique_ ’, an assault of loud, screeching and thundering noise occurred just as an intense white glow consumed my vision. I was immediately overwhelmed, wondered what was going on with and around myself and my brother, and sought to get away from where I was at and towards where my brother was.” He paused to look towards Polly.

 

Said sibling picked up on his end of things. “I meanwhile was in the midst of my ‘ _Back-and-Forth Bouncing and Whooshing Turnabout Aerial Maneuverment_ ’ – which sounds nowhere near as awesome as Cassy’s signature trick I might add –”

 

“Polly! Stay on track!” Castaera interrupted, though sounding more serious and emotional this time.

 

Realizing what was coming up soon and why his brother was behaving like this, Polly cast his eyes downward in apology for a moment before blinking and resuming his dramatic telling. “Right, back where I was saying, I was in the midst of doing my signature move when the same eruption of light and sound occurred beneath me. The sound threw my flight off for sure, and even though the light wasn’t shining directly into my eyes like Cassy’s, I could not make out what was going on or where my brother was. But then…” He trailed off as he gestured for Castaera to describe the next penultimate sequence.

 

The older brother faintly nodded and solemnly spoke. “Confused as I was in the midst of teleporting to escape and find Polly, I believe both of our hearts stopped as we each witnessed a stray rocket heading _straight for him_. My next move was obvious – I had to get him out of the way or at least risk potentially fatal injury in trying...” He too trailed off as Polly concluded.

 

“The last thing I remember is seeing both the incoming rocket and my brother’s dazed yet horrified expression, just before his eyes and mark glowed and he vanished towards me in one final teleportation… All then went white in an instant as an overwhelming painful sensation immediately overtook the both of us. For all we knew or still know it could have been the rocket _blowing us both apart_ or Cassy simultaneously tele- _fusing_ himself into my very being, but at least our agony itself was just as rapidly overtaken or shared alongside something _else_ …”

 

Castaera could understand why Polly felt he would be better off describing this next part. “It was both unearthly yet somehow _natural_. We felt profound, unfathomable energy flowing both around us and throughout us; and for the briefest of moments, we thought we glimpsed the very stars of the cosmos - much like our capes - surrounding us. The rest is but an indiscernible haze, though whatever it was that exactly happened, I’m sure you can have no trouble imagining the ultimate ‘ **result** ’. . .”

 

As the brothers seemed to have paused their narrative, Pinkie Pie took this opportunity to voice some of her thoughts and concerns. “ _Faust_ … That’s all so sad, so scary, so heroic, so tragic- yet also so amazingly fortunate that you both survived even ending up as you are… If you don’t mind me asking though, how did you still end up with Father Carnollo after all that?”

 

Castaera might have been tempted to make an annoyed and slightly condescending remark, but understood that the Princess was trying to be respectful in her query. “I was getting to that, if you’d kindly let me continue…” the elder unwillingly-conjoined twin trailed off as he and his brother began to recall the aftermath of their “accident” in a manner more resemblant of a flashback. . .

 

~ / ~

 

[* _Cue the brothers’ voices being spoken over imagined visual events as follows…_ *]

 

_The elder sibling’s voice began. “It must have been a few hours afterwards when we awoke, dazed and confused. It was dark and raining, and we initially assumed our drowsiness and ‘uncomfortableness’ to have been the consequence of our collision, return landing, and the debris that had fallen on and around us.”_

_He ominously continued. “Only when we managed to get on what we each _ thought _were our own individual legs did we try to call out for each other...”_

_He swallowed and sounded ill as he spoke next. “It was the combination of hearing and _ ** feeling ** _each other’s vocalizations that we first eyeballed each other from our new ‘shared perspectives’.”_

_Polly grimly followed up. “As anypony would guess, we screamed together just as a boom of thunder both masked and accentuated our terror. Although the weather out where we were was not regulated by any pegusi, the timing of that storm around us could not have been more perfect…”_

_A moment of painful grimacing, and Castaera resumed. “Once we managed to get our ‘_ emotional _’ selves together, we wandered around in our similarly-fused cape looking for anypony else to seek help and learn what had happened.”_

_A much briefer moment’s pause this time. “The only pony we could find was Funny Bone, standing there all alone in the rain, quietly looking away from our direction he let the rain drench him.”_

_Polly’s voice was nearly empty in tone as his mind travelled back to what came next. “With nothing else, we hesitantly called out for our boss to get his attention...”_

 

 ~ / ~

 

[* _The recollection became even more involved as the scene itself is viewed…_ *]

 

_The younger Polly’s voice weakly and hesitantly spoke out to the dripping circus owner before him and his now-much-“closer” brother. “Boss?... Boss it’s us.”_

_Swiftly turning around at the sound of the familiar voices, Funny Bone’s eyes widened at the warped creature that uneasily stood before him._

_“Caster? Pollux?! What the Tartarus happened to you?!” was his natural reaction._

_Castaera cried out in distress, “We don’t know boss!”_

_Polly jumped in. “We were in the middle of our final performance when something went_ wrong _!"_

_Castaera hurriedly resumed. “There were loud noises, blinding light, it’s all so confusing!”_

_Funny Bone was still unsettled but managed to spit out, “How are you two even_ still **alive** _like this?!”_

_This outburst startled Castaera in addition to his previous distress, hence why he had even more difficulty answering his Boss’s question. “I, we… We’re not sure, everything feels like it’s there… only its being… ‘_ shared _’ if that’s the even right word to use…”_

_Funny Bone looked as though he was about to speak again when he suddenly closed his mouth. This odd silence continued as the Earth Pony simply turned his body to face away from them, much as he was when the now-conjoined brothers had approached him moments ago._

_The Brothers were confused at this action and simply eyeballed one another warily before Polly mustered the courage speak up to the strangely-silent stallion. He still did so nervously and hesitantly by dropping one of their other questions that had been concerning them. “Umm… Boss? Where… Where is everyone else?”_

_Despite his name, Funny Bone deep down did not have a single genuine one in his entire being. Hence, much like the broken femur he bore on his flank, it was with this question that his ‘funny’ façade finally ‘_ snapped _’…_

 

_Turning towards the Brothers with an absolutely_ **livid** _expression on his menacing face, the possibly-soon-to-be-former circus owner unleased a_ **furious** _outburst at them._ _“Thanks to_ **your** _little ‘ accident’, everyone in the audience panicked and fled! _Faust _, many of them think you two are_ **DEAD**! _And you might as well be to me in your current state.”_

_If the brothers were alarmed before, they certainly were now. Castaera cried out, “Wha- But boss, we can still be of use to you!”_

_Polly rushed to jump in. “Yeah, we’ll do anything to make up for this, honest!”_

_Finding unexpected and almost_ sadistic _relief at the prospect of making others as unhappy as he was, Funny Bone acquired a smug expression on his face. “Sorry little colts, but _**freak** shows _don’t sit too well with the general populace these days. That, and I’ve got to_ cut my loose ends and baggage _and get going elsewhere before anyone else starts asking too many questions. Besides, it’s not like I can do much with the likes of you anymore, can I?”_

_Polly was on the verge of panic. “Please boss, no! Don’t do this to us!”_

_Castaera jumped in. “You have to reconsider! What else will we do now?!”_

_The Earth Pony ignored their desperate cries and continued his twisting of the proverbial knife. “_ **That** _is none of my concern, though I do recommend you stay away from any nosy authorities. They would be quick to prod you with questions, and who knows what_ **else** _they or somepony else might do in turn? Imagine if the ‘precious family’ you_ **abandoned** _for me saw your ‘condition’ now?”_

_With the cruelest of smirks, Funny Bone concluded his breaking speech. “I’m sorry young gents. You two – or perhaps I should say **one** now – served me well these past few months, but I’m afraid this is where we must go our separate ways. It was nice doing ‘good business’ with you though. Ta-tah!”_

 

~ / ~

 

[* _Back to the Brothers speaking aloud before Pinkie Pie, much as their narrative began:_ *]

 

Castaera’s voice was rife with remorse and fury. “We were left utterly broken and disheartened from that _motherbucking bastard_’s abandonment of us. But even he had made some valid points that began to sink in with us as he slowly trotted away with his cruel laughter…”

 

Polly tried to shift gears to a less emotionally-sensitive portion of their tale. “Since then, we tried our best to conceal ourselves as we travelled towards the nearby mountains. There would be nopony there to discover us, and we would have time to explore our new existence and ponder our future.”

 

Seeming to have calmed himself down, Castaera resumed his shared speaking role. “Over the course of days for which we lost track of, we struggled to find food, water, and shelter.”

 

Polly added in, “Not to mention that we once more had to figure out just how to simply eat, drink, sleep, and, uh-err, ‘ _relieve_ ’ ourselves…”

 

With a somewhat disgusted look on his face, Castaera sarcastically supplied, “You can imagine how ‘fun’ **_that_** was for us...”

 

“-Please don’t,” Polly hastily added, “-imagine that, I mean.”

 

“Err, um… Okay?...” the internally-heartbroken-and-outraged Pinkie Pie awkwardly assured them.

 

Castaera rolled his eyes and closed them before shaking his head. “Right, right. Getting back on track, we eventually reached the point where we figured that if me teleporting into Polly got us into this ‘situation’, him using his newfound horn to teleport himself ‘out’ of us might somehow hopefully separate us again.”

 

Polly added, “And if not, at least we would know what would happen… Even if the consequences might prove rather… ‘ _fatal_ ’. . .”

 

Castaera quickly took over again, “But luckily for us, _for once_ , this act simply teleported the both of us as we were and left us _entirely_ unharmed. My guesses are that our magical ‘ _signatures_ ’ or ‘ _matrices_ ’ must have somehow become fused, mixed, tangled-up, interwoven, you take your pick.”

 

Polly elaborated. “Either way, it turned out that whatever spells I cast could not distinguish between Cassy and I, and as a result affected us both. Similarly, whatever ‘pegasus magic tricks’ Castaera did with my old wings ‘carried me along for the ride’, heh-heh.”

 

Castaera tried moving on. “Yes, yes. Yet despite spending all this time wandering, pondering, learning to survive, and making these discoveries, we still had little idea what we were going to do with ourselves in the long term.”

 

Polly fondly picked up here. “But it was then on an overcast day – along one of the many isolated mountain paths – when we ran into Father…”

 

Castaera, also fond at this memory, found himself ready to have a flashback as he began. “We can recall roughly how our first meeting went…”

 

~ / ~

 

[ _The “father-prophet” in question is shown standing shocked by what he believes to be two separate colts huddling under the same ragged cape:_ ]

_“What are a pair of colts like you doing out here?” the unicorn concernedly asked._

_* Upon closer inspection as to reveal their “connection” beneath the tattered, fused cape…_*

_“You’re- you two are conjoined twins?” Carnollo managed to utter out._

_The Brothers looked at each other warily with unease before appearing to come to some sort of internal agreement._

_Castaera then responded with the hesitant admission, “Well, uh… we – we weren’t_ always _uh, ‘this way’…”_

_This certainly caught Carnollo off-guard. “What? You… you…” the confused prophet stumbled before going momentarily silent and coming to a horrifying conclusion. . ._

_“. . .Do you mean to tell me that you two were somehow… ‘_ **combined** _’ into the state you are currently in?!?”_

_At their frightful nods, an incredulous and horrified Carnollo spoke to the two once more. “Dear Faust, who on Equus would do such a thing or allow such a thing to happen to_ anypony _, let alone an innocent pair of young colts!”_

 

~ / ~

 

[* _Back to the Brothers speaking aloud before Pinkie Pie once again:_ *]

 

Castaera’s mind and voce returned to the present. “. . . Upon explaining what we just told you along with our names, we were surprised to find Father Carnollo so infuriated.”

 

Polly jumped in. “Even more so when he told us to come back with him to his place after we told him we had nowhere else to go.”

 

Castaera followed up. “He promised to shelter, provide for, and protect us with all he could afford to muster… Apparently this was not the first time he had done something like this.”

 

Polly resumed. “And even though none of us have ever heard from Funny Bone since, whilst Father forbids us from leaving the borders of this property or being seen outdoors without our cloak, we no longer care as much for such things.”

 

For a moment, the brothers paused to fondly remember one particular portion of their Father’s words to themselves: _‘ The world may forget about you two and I, but I promise you that at least I never will…’_

 

Back out loud, Castaera concluded, “We were so elated to find a home that could accept us for as we now were, and so as such we’ve been growing up here ever since.”

 

* * *

 

After a few moments of pondering and deliberation as to whether or not there was anything else to add before moving on to something else, Castaera spoke again. “Come to think of it, I guess it’s not all bad with us being stuck the way we currently are and our birth parents not having seen us since we ran away. Father takes good care of us, gives us plenty to do around here, and we always have each other!”

 

“Cassy…” Polly groaned at his brother’s incredibly lame pun.

 

Yet Castaera continued. “And thank goodness that our neck muscles don’t allow us to move our heads too close or far apart – the latter’s why Polly caused us to trip up and fall back in the balcony corridor by the way – or else Polly would have stabbed my right neck or handsome face long ago, heh heh.”

 

“Hey now, I would never do that on purpose!” Polly defended, “Besides, that would cause me to bleed out too,” he smugly finished.

 

“Why you-! Ugh, moving on…” an annoyed Castaera attempted to resume the conversation before finding himself now rather stumped... “Huh, I guess I can’t really think of where I was going with this. Polly, you got anything you want to bring to the table?”

 

The younger brother hadn’t anticipated this and took a moment to recall anything he might want to ask or talk about. “Oh, uh, yeah. Say Pinkie Pie, why did you – a Princess of all things – follow Father home from the market anyways?”

 

Pinkie Pie, feeling confident that either these poor, traumatized, and likely-nascent brothers or somepony else would be able to find some way to get them all out of this situation, gladly answered Polly’s question. “Well I recognized the cape he wore as looking very similar to the ones you two wore when performing under, uh, that ‘ _other stallion_ ’.”

 

Amusingly, Polly reacted rather childishly upset to this. “Aw horseapples, I knew we shouldn’t have given that gift to Dad.”

 

To this, Castaera was less amused. “Polly! How dare say that?! Father loved our gesture wears our combined cape around everywhere he goes to show his appreciation for us!”

 

Polly, as it turned out, was just trying to distract himself from an underlying anxiety affecting the both of them. “I’m sorry Cassy! I just don’t know what’s going to happen to us now…”

 

Pinkie finally took this opportunity to jump in, “Well don’t worry! I feel terrible for what you two have had to endure, and you’re not going to believe this, but- * ** _HUMPH!_** *…”

 

Suddenly, the crystal-like stone expanded to cover Pinkie’s mouth, gagging her! Apparently her neck piece had been the only thing keeping the mostly-encasing trap from being fully sprung. Her subtle head movements along with her latest act of speech had unfortunately managed to jostle the pressing protrusions loose, such that only her tail, wingtips, eyes, nostrils, ears, (powerless) horn, a tiny portion of her neckpiece, and her crown remained uncovered. The only reason the same had not befallen the brothers as to silence their speech was due to their “unique upper bodily layout”... Still, this did not mean that they weren’t concerned for their now-silenced and “much-less-comfortable” guest!

 

“Oh geez!” was Polly’s immediate exclamation.

 

Castaera was quick to try and reassure Pinkie. “Don’t worry your highness, you won’t be suffocated or anything like that.”

 

Polly joined in. “Yeah, just sit back and, breathe through your sinuses, and, um, ‘wait around’ until Father notices the full activation of this trap. Then he’ll definitely be coming right down those stairs soon where he’ll find us all here and work everything out.”

 

Castaera nervously finished, “Yeah, so no need to panic or anything. Heh heh, he’ll be coming down here soon, you’ll see!” Oh how he hoped this to be the case…

 

~ / ~

 

Thankfully the brothers seemed to be right in their hopeful assessment as but a few moments later, the trio could hear the sounds of hoofsteps echoing down the nearby flight of upward stairs.

 

“Castaera! Polly! Is something wrong? Are you hurt? What have you two gotten yourself into now?!”

 

The familiar voice of one father-prophet Faux Carnollo grabbed Pinkie and the Brothers’ attentions as the stallion in question made the rest of himself visible in his descent around the corner of the aforementioned stairwell…

 

~ / ~

 

Carnollo could be seen with his horn glowing in preparation for any intruding threat when he came upon the unsettling sight before him.

He was used to his adoptive sons’ occasional messing with the compound’s security systems despite his insistent warnings about the possible dangers of doing so. And he could understand if they got bored of their confinement to his family’s grounds and were tired of reading the same old books over and over again. But there was always the chance that an intruder might someday try to make their way into the lavish-looking estate, poking their snout where it should not go out of curiosity or ill-intent. As such, he felt himself prepared to face anything in the Crystal Siopi confines of the antechamber. But nothing could have prepared him for the sight of the _crown-and-neck-piece-wearing alicorn_ trapped alongside his sons!

 

Thank Faust Castaera and Polly appeared no worse for wear, but this only brought Carnollo the briefest sensation of relief before the _ensnared royalty_ made him gasp and feel his stomach drop. Eyes widened and caught utterly speechless, the Father’s horn dimmed to normal as he could only think back to what he had just been doing prior to his investigation into the disturbance on the lower levels…

 

* * *

 

[* _Some moments prior in the upper levels of Mount Braynassuus, seemingly soundproofed from the earlier combat, or just used to the sounds of the brothers’ bored training practice…_ *]

 

“Cloud? Cloudy? Where are you? Daddy wants to see you,” the gentle voice of Carnollo spoke within some of the most shiningly splendid white marble-lined halls of the temple complex. The owner of said voice had just returned from his weekly shopping trip and, after tending to some other housekeeping matters whilst noticing how his sons were probably off somewhere doing their own shenanigans again, decided to check on his other precious charge…

 

“I’m in here!” came the young and eager girlish response from down the hall. The father-prophet smiled and made his way down the hall to the source of the excitement.

 

The room was small and made of marble just like the majority of this sanctuary’s interior and exterior. Yet despite its simplicity it could also be considered relatively lavish with a small bed, carpeting, and toys strewn around a partially-filled chest. What was unusual even for a lavish filly’s room was the choice of coloration. Their did not appear to be much rhyme or reason to it, and even though many items in the room could have been older family possessions passed down through the generations, some were newer and thus might be expected to have been specifically selected by or for their owner’s preferences. In other words, the choice of furnishings may have suited a young filly in functionality, but might not necessarily have been selected by a filly on the basis of appearance. Even if this meant that the parent or caretaker may very well have chosen the items instead, they seemed to pay little attention to appearances outside of their _own_ preferences or those they viewed as appropriate for their young.

 

The resident filly was a young white pegasus with finely-groomed golden locks. The rest of her was cleaned and manicured as much as one might expect a young female pony to be when provided with such well-to-do care. Still, this did not completely distract from the small number of marks on her body. Most were the lingering remnants of faint scars from old scrapes and scratches that would probably continue to decrease in visibility as she grew older. One mark that would not be expected to change at all in her lifetime was the unusual one present on her flank. It took on the appearance of a sun with an eye symbol laid over it, shining rays that pierced through a thick veil of clouds. The clouds seemed to have given rise to the shortened, affectionate version of her name, while the sun and her brightening outlook gave rise to another, equally-affectionate nickname used by her incoming Father.

 

“Ah, there you are my precious sunshine. I figured you would be somewhere around here.”

 

Once the stallion finished, the excitable filly leapt towards the sound of her Father’s voice and hovered in mid-air as she hugged him. She never really used her wings outside of such small things out of the shared fear that she might crash into something and seriously injure herself.

 

“Of course I’d be here daddy! So are you going to ask me some questions or teach me something new today?”

 

Carnollo laughed at his adoptive daughter’s eagerness. “No, no. There’s no need for that right now. Daddy’s work is rather slow at the moment, and besides, I figured I would spend a little time playing with my wonderful little filly. She does deserve it for being so good lately after all.”

 

The loving filly responded, “Oh daddy, you’re the best! I couldn’t ask for a better papa.”

 

A pained expression briefly entered Carnollo’s eyes before he stuffed it away, not that his daughter would have noticed it anyway. Just then, a combined shaking and alarm from a nearby shifting stone indicator startled the duo.

 

“What was that?” the concerned father stated more to himself. All the while “Cloudy’s” features took on an uneasy look of their own as she followed her Father making his way towards the aforementioned stone indicator on the wall of the outside hallway.

 

“I’m sure it was just Cassy and Polly getting into another mess again, those wild dummies!” said the nervous filly.

 

A quick glance at the set off panel, and Carnollo took on a somewhat grim and serious expression.

“Not likely, my child. ‘Dummies’ or not, your brothers normally make sure to avoid getting theirself caught in the antechamber’s Crystal Siopi trap. Now you stay here while Daddy goes to probably free them and look into the cause of their disturbance.”

 

A crestfallen look came upon Cloudy’s face as she answered “Yes, Daddy.”

 

~ / ~

 

Yet unbeknownst to Carnollo, after he turned to leave, a myriad of thoughts swam around in his “precious sunshine’s” head…

 

‘ _I hope Cassy, Polly, and Daddy are okay! Should I have told him about my latest vision? Why can’t we all just stay together forever? It isn’t fair…_ ’

 

For Clouded Foresight was unlike many a pony if not any other one. While her milky orbs indicated her lack of normal vision that one might expect from having such a condition, she was not without her own ability to “see” things so to say.

 

It was a very strange sensation not unlike vivid dreaming, yet it was noticeably different and would occur without much warning at any time of the day or night. Her clouded eyes would glow white along with her unusual cutie mark as she received information best described as a simultaneous mix of sensory and knowledgeable acquisition.

 

Yet unlike other so-called ‘oracles’ commonly found throughout various dimensional settings (both real and fictional), Cloudy had more control over her ‘gift’ or ‘talent’. She would not uncontrollably mumble largely unintelligible vocations nor would she lack the memory of what had just occurred to her.

Rather, as she discovered through her own experimentation, it was entirely up to her what she could say about the experiences she received - be it as entirely or partially truthful or deceitful as she so pleased if she even bothered to say anything at all…

 

It wasn’t often that she lied about or withheld information to or from her Daddy when he came asking about the nature of her recent ‘experiences’, but her latest one had been most troubling to her.

 

In it, a _great flying oblong mass_ moves across what she has come to suspect is the sky, obscuring what must be the Sun hovering within it. She sees what she believes to be her brothers fighting against an unknown opponent in fearful desperation before they end up captured in the very traps of their own home! Finally, her loving Daddy comes to greet her as he had done moments ago before the same shaking and alarm cause him to leave the room like so.

It was the feeling of dread that this would be the last time she would ever see her Father (to say nothing of her brothers) that she hoped she would have been able to get him to stay in the room with her. At least for a few moments longer…

 

But now, now she did not know what to do. Part of her wanted to check up on her family to see if the fears induced by her vision were found. But she also didn’t want to disobey her Daddy, who was looking out for her safety and would probably (hopefully) be much better prepared to face whatever had managed to get both Cassy and Polly trapped. At the moment, all she could do was pace around in her own worries, being careful not to bump into anything within the carefully-memorized and envisioned layout of her room….

 

* * *

 

[ _Back to the present with Carnollo at the base of the antechamber stairs…_ ]

 

He knew this day would come. Not through one of his sunshine’s ‘premonitions’, but rather from the feeling of foreboding that had always loomed both in his gut and in the back of his own mind. He had always kept his little ones confined to the grounds of Mount Braynassuus out of fear that the world would take them away. Either to manipulate them as that despicable carney could have done to his sons by labeling them a ‘freak’ (or _worse_ , by **experimenting** on them) or by another manipulating his daughter for her visions in a much harsher way he lightly did as a simple means of providing for their family’s livelihood. Perhaps the majority of the outside world was not like this, but he had always been rather selfish in his upbringing and would not let anyone outside himself see the filly and colts whom he had come to _love_ \- and who in turn had come to love  him.

 

But now, as much as he could not believe the sight before him (‘Damn those colts for being so hot-headed as to attack and possibly _kill_ someone in a likely-unnecessary manner instead of getting him first!’), he knew in his heart that the time to answer for his actions had arrived. Unclenching his teeth, he calmly broke his silence.

 

“So… I see you colts have gotten into a quite a bigger mess than you have ever managed before. Trapping not only yourself but and an _Alicorn Princess_ of all things with you in the Crystal Siopi Trap. I guess we know how effective this part of our home’s security system is, though I imagine you two did not intend to drive her or yourselves into this predicament when you were busy trying to **_KILL_** _her_ now were you?!”

 

At their caretaker’s raised and condescending voice, Castaera and Polly tried to defend themselves.

“But Father, she followed you outside, spotted us, and chased us into here…” the former trailed off as the latter picked up “We, we had to protect our family no matter what!”

 

“And that gave you the right to attack her if it did not immediately appear she would do the same to you? Does an **alicorn princess** look like a malevolent threat to you? And don’t try to convince me that she’s a changeling or anything of the like because you both know that Siopi Stone of either normal or crystal kind cancels out such illusion magics! Why I bet even if you two tried to get me as I’ve told you to do time and time again to do in this kind of situation, you didn’t even let her try to explain herself until after you all were immobilized! And that is to say nothing about what we would ever do if you had somehow managed to seriously hurt her or anypony else for that matter… *Sigh…* Look. I know you meant well for us, but who knows what will happen now that you have made such a bad first impression?!”

 

Rubbing his forehoof on over his closed eyes while the Brothers wallowed in guilty shame, Carnollo kept them such as he placed his hoof back down onto the ground. Relaxing his brow, he sighed again before opening his eyes and speaking once more, this time towards the somewhat concerned and anxious Pinkie Pie.

 

“I’m sorry for that. For all this. I suppose an explanation is in order.”

 

At the princess’s gagged mumbling, Carnollo shook his head.

 

“Ah, don’t worry about that, I’ll release each of you soon enough, but first I wish to take some time to speak to you ‘uninterrupted’, as it is. I mean no disrespect, ‘Your Highness’…” he trailed off to glance at his downcast sons in expectation.

 

Polly momentarily looked up and simply answered, “She told us her name is Pinkie Pie.” before his head returned to join his moping brother’s.

 

Carnollo vaguely recognized the name from what vague news reached these parts. “…So she’s one of the ‘first new wave of 6’ as some ponies are calling you. Right then.” Looking back to Pinkie Pie, he continued from where had left off. “I mean you know respect by leaving you like this while I speak, ‘Princess Pinkie Pie’, but you can always punish me when we’re done.”

 

Even as Pinkie stared at the Father-Prophet somewhat annoyed and incredulously, the stallion in question began to pace around as if wondering where he should begin, what he would say, and how he would say it. Seeming to find the words he wanted, he once more turned his attention to the Princess to begin his ‘explanatory speech’.

 

“Before I get to the explanation for my young ones’ conditions, I feel I should first shed some light onto my own background and motives. I don’t often give speeches like this outside of my ‘prophesizing sessions’, but when you’ve been alone as long as I have, you may find yourself developing a fondness for hearing your own voice speak, even if it is to yourself. Plus, this is probably the only time I’m going to be able to do something like this.”

 

At the raising of an eyebrow and the rolling of the Pinkie’s eyes (it looks like this is where Castaera and Pollux got their “affinity” for monologuing from…), Carnollo cleared his throat and resumed his speech.

 

“Err… Anyways, I come from a long and once grand line of so-called ‘noble blood’. Mount Braynassuus was the land my distant Faux ancestors chose to live on when they were offered a fiefdom for their loyalty and service to the ancient Lord of the time. While I believe they chose this place for the scenery and isolation, they also happened to discover the unusual Siopi Stone and Crystal Siopi Stone deposits that brought them wealth for their usage in places like Tartarus. Over time, this mountain was mined out until any remaining deposits became too dangerous or non-profitable to mine. That, and the demand for Siopi waned as it faded into largely-forgotten obscurity.”

 

“My ancestors, being full of themselves as we still were in recent times, decided to convert what was left of the quarry into a personal ‘temple’ where travelers could make offers for good fortune on their pilgrimages. By the time this practice was too forgotten, my great grandparents or so got involved in other ‘noble’ businesses to keep our family afloat. Yet for all their thrifty efforts, my family always did have the problem of keeping to themselves and close to their kin, in more ways than one, so to speak. As a result, the Faux family line became gradually ‘inbred’ overtime until my parents learned that neither they nor I would be able to produce another heir. They had already been rather… dispassionate and neglectful in their raising of me beforehand, and after this news they pretty much wallowed about here in their own selfish misery. Within a few years of declining health, a bad winter, and a bout of illness, my parents were buried on these grounds and it was just me left to manage this estate.”

 

“I never really had the chance to develop any career interests nor friends outside of market acquaintances, and I was hesitant to leave the only place I had ever known. Hence, I simply lived off of what was left of my family’s wealth, selling the occasional bit of property to make ends meet when needed. Nothing much, nothing more. But enough about my pathetic life story. I should get onto the more relevant points I’m leading up to with this overly-woeful monologue of mine.”

 

The self-depreciating Faux prophet briefly glanced at the stairwell from which he had discovered the bound Pinkie and conjoined Brothers. He then began speaking once more.

 

“In time, I had all but given up on caring for the world outside of my lonesome self, and even that was beginning to wane. Yet just as I was contemplating whether to abandon all my possessions and head off into the wilderness to be done with everything, I came across something truly profound that gave new meaning to my life.”

 

“It was on a cold and breezy day as I made one of my usual hikes on the less traveled wilderness paths. Sometime into my travel, I thought I heard the rummaging of a wild beast concealed on the path ahead. Proceeding with caution, I made my way over to the bend as to quietly peer and identify the source of the mysterious disturbance. What I saw shocked me, but not out of fear for my own life.”

 

“Before me was, of all things, a small white pegasus filly, all alone and covered in cuts, scrapes, and filth. Even her gold-tan mane and tail were a dirty tangled mess. I could not help but voice my appalled surprise, and while this exclamation did startle her, it was more unnerving when she only turned in my general direction and frightfully asked who was there. It was then that I got a good look at her clouded silver eyes, unseeing yet no less expressing of her trauma, fear, and weariness.”

 

“To this day, I have no idea if she was lost, orphaned, or left for dead. As I carefully calmed, approached, and consoled her with my voice and foreleg, she could only remember vague semblances of her parents’ voices and that she was called **Clouded Foresight**.”

 

“Though I tried my best to hide it from the poor child, on the inside I was absolutely livid that the world could be so cruel as to leave such an innocent soul in such a sorry state! I was brought out of my indignant thoughts when the soft and feeble voice of Cloudy suddenly said, ‘ _It’s you. I knew someone like you would save me._ ’ When I asked what she was talking about, she quietly explained that despite lacking vision in her own eyes, she would sometimes get ‘visions’ conveying information that could pertain to the past, the present, or even the future. She hadn’t known much about this ‘gift’ of hers for long, or if it had anything to do with how she ended up astray, but it was in the midst of her despair that she received a ‘premonition’ that gave her hope. From it, she came to believe that somepony with a voice and touch she now claimed to be mine would come and save her.”

 

“I did not know what to think of this – I for one was already tired of the life the world left me with – but I was not about to dissuade the poor filly nor leave her to fend for herself. Destiny or not, I decided either way that I alone would be the one to take care of her, the world and its inhabitants that did this or let this happen to her be damned.”

 

The old stallion relaxed his face from the scowl it had taken as he smiled and began to speak more fondly.

 

“So I took her back home with me, cleaned her up, and furnished the best room I could to raise her as my own. She may be the true ‘prophet’ or ‘oracle’ of my little business charade, but I always asked her nicely, accepted whatever answers she felt like giving regardless of how useful they were, and saved whatever bits I made from it all for the needs of us four. Now then…”

 

Trailing off in his current speech, Carnollo glanced towards Castaera and Polly Flux where he continued, “I presume you two have already told our esteemed guest of how you both came to be under my years of care alongside Cloudy?”

 

At their slow-but-internally-nervous nods at where their adoptive Father was going with all this, Carnollo sighed “Very well,” and turned towards the bound Pinkie Pie once more.

 

“I won’t inquire the reasons as to why royalty would come all the way out here, but be it destiny or not, you are here nonetheless. I know that I won’t be able to get away with this or from this – what I’ve done all these years and what I’ve done with you now. I won’t attempt to ‘ _silence_ ’ you, both for its wrongness and its likely impossibility. And I’m not foolish enough to believe that I could keep you prisoner to hide your knowledge of this either. For why would I bother? Even disregarding the unavoidable rescue efforts by your allies, friends, and family, what hope does someone as pathetic as I have in opposing a member of the same race that raises our heavenly bodies and brings down far more powerful and threatening foes who try to do the same? Such is why I will simply let you go soon enough. Both for these reasons, and that I think I’ve kept enough ponies _imprisoned_ in my lifetime-”

 

The conjoined Brothers were prompted to interject, “Don’t say that Father, you-!”

 

“Don’t call me that!” the hardened caretaker yelled in turn, stunning the two back into emotionally-pained silence before continuing. “Can’t you see that this is your best chance at getting true help and a better life?! All I’ve ever done is keep you younglings trapped in this ‘sanctuary’ away from help and potential relationships for nothing but my own selfish vices and fears! I suppose I made myself feel better to convince us both that this was the best or right course of action for all of us, but I will live by this excuse no more and neither will you two and your sister. I’ve tried my best to educate you two on the world and the ways it works, but Cloud, she… She is able to know so much and yet so little… I myself don’t know if I will be able to do the same with her.”

 

Carnollo paused from his heartfelt rant, and upon resuming his words it wasn’t clear if he was addressing the Brothers, Pinkie, or himself as he stared at the floor.

 

“I’m sorry. I know you will do better to be off and away from this heathen place. Out in the modern world I always refrained from venturing into. Where I’m sure there are indeed good ponies willing to look past your outward appearances to give you the help and socialization you all need. And who better to assist you in this than an undoubtedly dutiful member of the crown with access to all of their plentiful resources?”

 

He then looked back up at Pinkie Pie, worn, tired, and looking every bit like his years of self-inflicted misery and guilt he had hidden from those around him.

 

“Whatever judgment I receive, I would only ask that I be given the ability to visit or at least be able to know how my little ones shall fare from now on. Yet I understand if even this is asking for too much. Either way, you are now free to go.” and to himself Carnollo mumbled “May the powers that be have mercy on my soul.”

 

With that, he went silent and activated the release mechanism to free the Brothers and the Princess…

 

[ _To Be Continued? . . ._ ]

### { _End Part 2?…_ }


	4. Afterword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discussion of the "open ending" and other "behind-the-scenes" info...

**Afterword ~~(forgive my habit of using parentheses)~~ :**

**After this point, I figured I would let the readers decide what Pinkie or the Brothers might do. Possibilities include:**

 

**1.** **If all four would linger around with a more equally-distributed exchange of dialogue. Perhaps with the Brothers’ and Carnollo’s “monologues” having been secretly recorded or broadcasted by Pinkie’s “neck piece” to Luna at least. (Pinkie possibly having accidentally turned and left it on back when she was about to report outside of the house when her element/spell shifted her attention to the cloaked brothers on the balcony.)**

**2.a. If the Brothers would be sent by Carnollo to go fetch Clouded Foresight, or**

**2.b. if the “little oracle” is revealed to have secretly made her way down to overhear/witness Carnollo’s speech herself.**

 

**3.** **Whether due to the aforementioned possible recording/broadcasting above or not, Luna might somehow have been able to follow Pinkie and possibly has been watching the latter’s imprisonment and “torture-by-monologue” from a hidden distance (ready to step in should anything bad have occurred). This is of course assuming that Luna isn’t busy making discoveries of her own about the current conditions of Edenbrayia, the lives of its inhabitants, and possibly ways for them to be improved (as I suspect one may feel the desire to have done if you aren’t satisfied with leaving Edenbrayia as I have introduced it).**

 

**4.** **Combining 2.b. and 3., perhaps Luna would reveal herself with Clouded Foresight at her side. I imagine Carnollo’s reaction would be one of shock with a brief moment’s flash of worry at seeing somepony other than the Castaera and Polly standing next to his precious filly before recognizing the Night Princess.**

 

 

**To here I will add that while I’ve introduced Cloudy, her abilities, her vague backstory, and her current position/role in things, I will leave it to others how her ability and backstory is or _isn’t_ further utilized/explored… The same goes with the Brothers’ vaguely-described childhood family that they regrettably ran away from and may or may not end up being reunited with.**

**Speaking of Carnollo, ultimately, I am not sure what kind of judgment he should receive. I tried my best to portray him as a flawed and unfortunate character with hopefully understandable reasons for his actions. Reasons that he himself somewhat realizes are selfish and flawed to where chastises himself for his own so-called weakness and is more than willing to “give things up without a fight”, but only “once the jig is up” and to a member of the alicorn royalty no less.**

**As for said alicorn royalty, I hope I did the characterizations of Pinkie and Luna well. Not only in accuracy to general canon, but I didn’t want to describe them too closely to the versions in “The Great Alicorn Hunt” as if I already expected this to be utilized there (which I don’t, at least not without RHJunior’s word). It is for a similar reason that I didn’t really utilize Pinkie Pie’s “reality-warping” abilities as much as they could have been, but I wasn’t sure what exactly would be appropriate and where. If anything, I guess one could say that she was too busy or the opportunity never came up. Feel free to “invoke them” should anyone decide to “take over” where I left off.**

**In terms of potential nascents, while the brothers are obviously who I’ve more than implied to be this what with their whole “emergency partial ascension” and whatnot, I will leave it up to others to decide whether Clouded Foresight would be nascent too (the relative isolation and Siopi stone of the temple/home having concealed her and her brothers all these years except when the brothers were probably outside in their cloak when Pinkie first accidentally detected them). On one hand (or hoof), there are already have plenty of female alicorns to work with. On the other, there’s always room for more, with more alicorns being the merrier goal of the protagonists of the original fanfic after all.**

**Please also note that my idea for the Brothers, Carnollo, and Cloudy came long before concepts involving “disabilities” and “what happens if an ascension fails” were extensively brought up in _The Great Alicorn Hunt_. In this case, I’m all for trying to help the disabled become able while the Brothers’ “ascension” was more of an incomplete one spawned out of extraordinary emergency circumstances. As such, the “cosmic ascending power” may have only done the minimal work necessary to ensure that the Brothers would survive their predicament at the time – even as a conjoined “mock-alicorn”. This could have been due to the ascension being so forced when the Brothers were not yet ready, a lack of transformative energy or time to apply it (again, possibly due to the forced nature), etc.**

**All this, and I figured RHJunior would best know how to incorporate this story and its characters into his story universe (or another reader incorporating them into their own version of it). If anyone DOES try to make their own continuation of this (or heck, even fanart of it), cite me all you want but don’t forget to include RHJunior’s _The Great Alicorn Hunt_ as the original source of inspiration. Also, while I might not go around proclaiming any particular piece or pieces as “official”, I may give my compliments for accuracy, effort, interpretation, expansion, etc.**

**What follows are some “behind-the-scenes” points regarding various sources of inspiration aside from _The Great Alicorn Hunt_ along with some other thoughts/reasons for doing things the way I did:**

**[I.] Admittedly, one of my primary inspirations for this piece was the “Castor and Pollux Boss Fight” of the video game _God of War: Ascension_ (for which a good showcase is a YouTube video by a channel named RMPKenpachi, though this does not include an earlier scene where Castor appears in a rather jerkass “Establishing Character Moment”). Considering how this series “butchers” Greek mythology in both accuracy and gratuitous carnage with virtually all characters being morally questionable/despicable, I ended up using only a few aspects from this (the design concept and certain teleport-spamming combat mechanics) while changing quite a lot with other added things and new/original ides of my own. **

**The Brothers “Castaera” and “Polly Flux” here are obviously younger, nicer (when not fearfully panicked or emotionally stressed), of a rather different background without time-space powers, and will hopefully meet a nicer fate than their jerkass inspirational counterparts.**

**The same goes for little “Clouded Foresight”, who was based off the unfortunate oracle Alethia shown in Ascension along with other oracle aspects or tropes I’ve come across in fiction (with my own slightly-subversive twists). I was also nicer to make her eyes blind (expressing the “blind seer” irony of “sight without sight” as well as to give a reason why she might be overly-protected, as an often-sight-reliant pegasus to boot) from a “cloudy”, possibly-cataract-like-deformity rather than having her eyes forcibly removed from her sockets like Alethia’s (who herself met an unfortunate end soon after the thieving jerkass boss brothers met their violent end).**

**I’m sure RHJunior or anyone else’s versions of the other characters might come up with some way to help “Cloudy” and the “Brothers” if they aren’t just simply cured/separated by complete/true alicorn-ascension.**

 

**[II.] Carnollo himself is an amalgamation of multiple sources. His name is a portmanteau of Father Carnello from _Fullmetal Alchemist_ and Frollo from _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_. Appearance-wise he is like a pony version of the wizard Merasmus from the video game _Team Fortress 2_ in middle-aged disposition and garb (with his cutie mark being this wizard’s staff) combined with a bearded-goat-like face much like Discord’s. I imagine his voice to be like that of Castor from _God of War Ascension_ above (David W. Collins), though he is more gentlemanly in public and fatherly in private (though he is not above scolding his adoptive “children” when they have “crossed the line”, as seen in the rather-difficult-to-word lecture scene about attacking intruders in self-defense…).**

**[III.] The character of Funny Bone is something I came up with back when I tossed around the idea of a conjoined unicorn-pegasus “mock-alicorn” like the Brothers being put on display in a “circus freak show” (a perversion of the kind-hearted Laughter associated with Pinkie Pie). I then figured that such a thing probably wouldn’t be that common or still exist at all in RHJunior’s version of Equestria, so I went with the Brothers being “run-away-to-join-the-circus” performers who got into an amazing, unfortunate, and convoluted accident.**

**As hinted at in the story, Funny Bone isn’t exactly the most honest or uncorrupt business entertainer. I had fun with the various cutie marks for each character, Funny Bone’s included. It was because of this underlying callous underhandedness and cruelty that I used him to really “twist the knife” so-to-speak in regards to why the Brothers would end up as they did both situationally and emotionally (at least before they came under Carnollo’s care).**

**I deliberately left Funny Bone’s fate unresolved as I figure RHJunior or anyone else for that matter might love to come up with his/their own ideas as to where he’s ended up after his harsh abandonment of the Brothers. Not to mention what fate – possibly an ever-loved “humiliation-conga” – shall await him now that the princesses have come to know of some of his deeds (assuming he didn’t already screw up and get arrested since the Brothers’ abandonment anyways).**

**[IV.] Ideyall Pastour admittedly serves as little more than a “Mr. Exposition” style guide as well as a typical if not somewhat exaggerated member of the local herding populace (again, I had fun with his cutie mark as I did with many of the others). His odd-looking name is actually a mix up of the terms “Ideal”, “Idyll”, “Pastoral”, and “Pasture”. And although “Pastour” sounds similar to the last name Pasteur, his herding profession probably has little to do with the famous French chemist/microbiologist.**

**In the case that one decides to have the princesses use their royal connections to help improve Edenbrayia (as RHJunior has done with other princess-visited areas like the Cajun-like swamp ponies), perhaps Ideyall may serve as a good contact/representative? Who knows?**

**[V.] Though her inspiration seems obvious, “Scrapie Hooves” is just something/somepony amusing that I thought I would throw into the story because it seemed fitting and useful to both the setting and plot. Her exact appearance can be left up to the reader’s imagination. Also, she may or may not be in a more-than-friendly relationship with Ideyall… Just to throw some other ideas/things out there…**

**[VI.] I did other research of my own for aspects like the environmental and cultural settings, looking up the Pindus Mountains, Mount Parnassus, Meteora and its monasteries, typical ancient Greek housing materials or materials that look like they could/might be used in such rural constructions, etc. While much of this is Greek-based, there are other architectural aspects that are more Roman or European in historical usage or basis.**

**For a bonus, open Google Translate, set it on English-to-Greek, and enter “silence”. I know a fictional binding substance like the “Crystal” version of this might seem dangerously-overpowered, but I implied it to be quite rare and mentioned it as being largely unknown/forgotten. Whether or not anything is done about it or if it’s brought up again is up to anyone who continues this.**

**On one last “fun fact” note, horses apparently don’t have a collar bone and/or clavicle as to allow for a less-hindered range of foreleg movement. As such, I figured that ponies who do a whole lot more with their forelegs/forearms in terms of movement would be the same.**

**Whatever anyone does, I hope they may be appreciative or thankful of this “gift” I felt like making over these past few months and latest few weeks.**

**Even if no one does anything with this or goes so far as to criticize me for my efforts, I still enjoyed doing this for myself at least nonetheless.**

**I guess that’s it for now. I wish everyone good luck in their endeavors and have a good day. :)**

**-Inactive Readore**


End file.
